Today, Valentine’s Day 2021, Nigerian-born British photographer Misan Harriman delivered a romantic Valentine to the entire world, posting on Instagram about his special relationship with The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, accompanied by a most wonderful photo.

“Meg, I was there at your wedding to witness this love story begin, and my friend, I am honoured to capture it grow. Congratulations to The Duke and Duchess of Sussex on this joyous news!”

Misan Harriman post about Meghan and Harry.png

Harriman’s Instagram image is also posted on British Vogue, where Alice Newbold confirms the news that Archie [Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor” is going to be a big brother, a spokesperson for the couple confirmed. In the official photo shot remotely by Harriman, the couple reclined under a tree with Harry resting his hand on Meghan’s head as she lay in his lap cradling her bump.

The Duchess is wearing a Carolina Herrera dress by Wes Gordon made for her while she was pregnant with her son Archie. “With the tree of life behind them and the garden representing fertility, life and moving forward, they didn’t need any direction, because they are, and always have been, waltzing through life together as absolute soulmates,” says Harriman of observing his friends through the lens of his iPad remotely from London to Los Angeles.

The photographer connected with Meghan long ago at a charity event. Reflecting further on the shoot, Harriman noted that the couple were so comfortable chatting and living in the moment that they seemed blissfully unaware that he was shooting important images with historical significance.

Harriman was very touched to be commissioned for this portrait after the miscarriage suffered by the Duchess last summer. “To be asked to help share this absolute joy after such an unimaginable loss and heartache is a marker of true friendship,” says Harriman. “

In another of those wonderful six degrees of separation stories, Meg (as Harriman calls her) reminded her photographer friend that without his introduction to a mutual friend, she wouldn’t have met Harry. In perfectly humble words, Harriman ends his British Vogue reflection, saying “I’m grateful for whatever small part I played.”

“When you see people who have the connection that they have, it’s like reading the pages of a book,” he explains of the ease with which he captured “their truth”.

September 2020: Misan Harriman First Black Man to Shoot Vogue Cover

20 Global Activists Are Center Stage on British Vogue's September 2020 'Activism Now' Cover

Misan Harriman is the first Black man to shoot a British Vogue cover in the magazine’s 104-year history, last fall’s September 2020 issue on Black Lives Matter-related activism.

Harriman potographed Marcus Rashford and Adwoa Aboah in a major editorial statement on the faces of British and beyond activism.

I subscribe to Misan Harriman’s @whatweseee and am taking the liberty of sharing larger screenshots of his Instagram, because it’s important to see this wonderful announcement about Meghan and Harry’s new baby within this larger context of the photographs that surround it.

It might give some of the royals a heart attack but there’s something totally beautiful about sharing the pregnancy announcement within the larger image landscape of issue that matter deeply to the young couple.

Clearly, they are marching to their own drum here in America, and I must say that as we agonize over the horror of the racist history and white nationalism now publicly and proudly expressed across our land, thanks to Trumpism, I’m really happy to have people like Meghan and Harry choosing to fight this evil on American shores.

We need all the help we can get. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex bring with them a group of mighty fine people.

And for Meghan and Harry and baby Archie, even the elephants are losing their mind with joy.